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Cabinet approves Business Act amendments
BANGKOK (The Nation): The Cabinet has approved the revised amendments to the Foreign Business Act, but it remains uncertain whether the bill will pass the National Legislative Assembly.The NLA will debate the amendments on April 18. Some 50 of its members have railed against the changes, saying they jeopardize foreign investment.Commerce Minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet has said he is ready to…
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Songkran blessings
PHUKET CITY: Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit poured lustral water over the hands of some 100 top provincial officials during a Songkran ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion on Narisorn Rd on Tuesday morning.Phuket Vice-Governors Worapoj Rattasima, Tri Augkaradacha and Smith Palawatvichai all took part in the traditional ceremony, along with Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Decha Budnampetch and many other…
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Tata Young in Phuket
PATONG: More than 1,000 people from the Tata Young Fan Club traveled to Phuket to enjoy Tata Young’s live concert last night, held to mark the grand opening of Jungceylon. Tata, a 26-year-old Thai-American, became a superstar in Thailand at the age of 15 and launched a successful international career with the release of her first English-language album I Believe…
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Four arrested in pirate DVD sting
PATONG: About 13,000 pirate DVDs were confiscated and four vendors were arrested in raids by police at Jintana Plaza Market around 6 pm on April 4.After Capt Nikom Tienhao, an Inspector at the Children, Juveniles and Woman Division’s Sub-Division 3, led the sting on the vendors, officers moved in and confiscated 13,000 DVDs, including 139 pornographic movies.Sub Lt Naruewat Phutthawiro,…
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Dead baby found floating off Saphan Hin
PHUKET CITY: A dead baby boy was found floating near the mouth of Bang Yai canal in Sapan Hin on Thursday.The grisly find was reported to police at 8:30 am by a tourist.Lt Col Somkid Boonyarat, an Investigating Inspector at Phuket City Police Station, told the Gazette that the body was that of a baby boy of Thai appearance.Doctors estimate…
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Kamala OrBorTor installs temporary President
KAMALA: Karoon Seeden has been installed as Acting President of Kamala Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) after a vote by the council’s 11 other members.K. Karoon was installed after a vote of seven to four in his favor. Three councilors voted for Prajak Yayee, and one councilor abstained.He replaces Jaral Sararak, who was removed from office by Kathu District Chief Khantee…
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Gang rivalry blamed for violent death
WICHIT: Police suspect gang rivalry as the motive behind the killing of a young Thalang man whose body was found riddled with bullets early on Saturday. Pol Lt Col Sompong Boonrat, a Deputy Inspector at the Phuket City Police Station, identified the victim as Pongsakorn “Kho” Naksuk, 24.Pongsakorn was shot several times in the upper arms, head and back with a…
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Dam dirty dealings in Chalong
PHUKET: The Irrigation Department has almost completed negotiations to acquire all of the land needed to build the Klong Krata Reservoir in Chalong, but the project now faces an unexpected new hurdle because some landowners have been excavating and trucking away topsoil from the project site.Theerachart Sangkaha, the Irrigation Department official in charge of the project, informed Governor Niran Kalayanamit…
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Eight teenagers nabbed for muggings
PHUKET: Phuket City Police on Wednesday rounded up eight teenagers suspected of at least two gunpoint muggings.Police reported that the boys – all aged 16 or 17 – confessed to two attacks, one at Saphan Hin on Tuesday and one at Khao Rang viewpoint on March 29. In both cases, the boys used knives and a homemade short shotgun to…
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Tsunami warning tower daily tests start tomorrow
PHUKET: The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has announced that about 9 am each day – starting tomorrow – it will audibly test its 79 tsunami warning towers along the Andaman Coast.NDWC staff hydrologist Jumleang Chutab told the Gazette that the siren towers have been regularly tested since their construction, but only on a “silent” basis.Under the new testing the…
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Dugong dies in illegal trap
PA KHLOK: A 126-kilogram male dugong was found dead in an illegal fish trap in Pa Khlok Bay on Monday.The discovery was reported to the Phuket Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Office (MCRC) by Juroon Rachaphol, a local conservation activist, at 7:30 pm.A 20-strong team of MCRC officers and volunteers were led to the site. They found the animal stuck…
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B100,000 reward offered for Karon murder suspect
KARON: A 100,000-baht reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Suban Pon-iamsaen, 40, the prime suspect in the murder of Mala Peng-iam, who was gunned down in her Mala Seafood beachfront restaurant on March 27.Suban owns the restaurant next door to Mala Seafood.Police believe that the killing was the climax of a long-running feud between the…
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Free rabies vaccinations
PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Livestock Office (PPLO) is offering free rabies vaccinations for cats and dogs at Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) offices until April 30.PPLO Veterinarian Veeraphap Termkeitpisan told the Gazette, “We have already vaccinated about 5,000 dogs and cats in the Phuket City, Rawai, Wichit and Chalong this year.”“The last human death from rabies in Phuket was in 1984,” K.…
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Songkran road toll targets set
PHUKET: Phuket officials have declared that they want no more than three deaths, 34 accidents and 53 injuries during the Songkran holiday period from April 11 to 17.Last year’s Songkran holidays, from April 7 to 16, and saw six deaths and 99 accidents, with 96 accident victims requiring hospital care.A meeting to discuss the targets for this year’s Songkran was…
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Marine Department allows late jet-ski registrations
PHUKET: The Marine Department is continuing to accept registration applications for new jet-skis replacing old or broken ones despite the one-month grace period expiring on Saturday. Surin Theerakulpisut, Chief of Phuket Marine Office, which oversees the use and registration of jet-skis on and around Phuket, told the Gazette that the owners of unregistered jet-skis being used in Phuket waters will…
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Driver charged over fatal Samkong accident
PHUKET CITY: Lanju Saechiw, the driver of a pickup truck involved in a fatal head-on collision with a tuk-tuk in Samkong on February 14, has been charged with reckless driving resulting in a death.Tuk-tuk driver Payao Junjue and passenger Eero Untamo Malim, from Finland, died in the collision in front of the popular Steak Samkong restaurant on Yaowarat Rd.Two other…
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Drastic new measures to save Patong
PATONG: Following the overwhelming success of the one-way traffic system that went into effect in Patong in January, local officials will extend the concept to include pedestrian traffic by making Soi Bangla one-way for people traveling on foot.When the new system is brought into effect, currently scheduled for April 15, pedestrian traffic will only be permitted in an easterly direction, i.e.…
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Chalong bomber investigation stalls
CHALONG: After hearing that the police investigation into the November bombing of three houses in Chalong had stalled, Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima ordered police to step up efforts to catch the person or persons responsible.The three homemade bombs, described as “fertilizer bombs”, detonated at about 2:30 am on November 28 on Soi Songkun, about one kilometer off Chao Fa East…
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Russian “sister city’ delegation visits Phuket
PHUKET: Mayor Kolyadin Oleg Genyadierich, Deputy Mayor Serganor Oleg L’voich and other officials from Nakhodka, Phuket’s “sister city” in the Russian Far East, met Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanimit and other top provincial officials earlier this week, agreeing to cooperate in a range of areas, including fisheries, education, tourism and sports.Gov Niran visited Nakhodka last September, when the two cities were…
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1,881 more people register as living in Phuket
PHUKET: Between February 21 and March 20, 1,881 people registered with the government as living in Phuket, bringing the island’s official population to 313,955.Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Piya Bharatasilpin reported the increase to Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima yesterday.Part of the increase is thought to be in response to the Governor calling for island residents to register themselves on Phuket…
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Karon restaurateur kills next-door rival
KARON: Police are on the lookout for Karon restaurateur Suban Pon-iamsaen after eyewitnesses reported that he calmly walked into the kitchen of the Mala Seafood restaurant, next door to his own restaurant on the beach road, and shot dead the owner, Mala Peng-iam, 52.Eyewitnesses reported that Suban carried out the execution at point blank range at about 7 pm yesterday.He…
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Slum dwellers of Phuket unite
PHUKET CITY: About 300 angry villagers representing more than 20 slum communities from around Phuket protested noisily outside Phuket Provincial Hall Thursday morning, demanding that Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit help alleviate their poverty.A protest leader, Supat Nunkhao, from Pla Katak Pattana community on Koh Sireh, told the Gazette that the villagers want the provincial authorities to develop their homes and…
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Vietnamese couple busted with heroin
PATONG: Kathu Police arrested a Vietnamese couple on March 25 for possession of heroin with intent to sell, seizing about 40 grams of the drug.Acting on information provided by an informant, a team of Kathu Police led by Investigations Inspector Lt Col Serm Kwannimit at 3 pm approached a single-room flat on the second floor of an apartment block on…
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Search for bypass shooter continues
PHUKET CITY: The search continues for a Phuket youth suspected of shooting and beating a man along the bypass road near the Tesco-Lotus intersection on February 19. Chatchai Chuenjitsoonthorn and his wife, Maliwan, were attacked by a motorbike gang of about 20 youths while on their way home from a late-night meal. The couple was able to identify the shooter…
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7-Eleven robbed at gunpoint
KOH KAEW: A bandit toting a shotgun made off with about 4,900 baht in a robbery on a 7-Eleven in Koh Kaew at about 4 am yesterday.Staff at the mini-mart, located on Thepkrasattri Rd just north of Boat Lagoon, told police that the robber was tall with light-colored skin and was wearing a black jacket and motorcycle helmet. Approaching the…
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Phuket-Penang direct flights to launch April 13
PHUKET CITY: As part of a drive to boost the number of tourists to Malaysia, Malaysian Airlines’ new low-cost carrier Firefly airlines will start daily direct flights between Phuket and Penang beginning April 13. Malaysian Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor discussed the new service at a press conference at the Royal Phuket City Hotel on Thursday. Firefly,…
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Aussie father abducts daughter, arrested in Patong
PATONG: An Australian father who abducted his daughter and demanded 30 million baht from his estranged wife was arrested at his rented apartment on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd at 8 pm last night.Pol Lt Col Yodake Raksasuwan, Inspector at Phuket Immigration Office, told the Gazette that John Justin Goyen Leary, 39, was arrested after police discovered his whereabouts by tracing his…
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Domestic flights return to Don Muang
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI), Nok Air and One-Two-GO domestic flights between Phuket and Bangkok will resume using Don Muang Airport, Bangkok’s former international airport, this weekend.Kalayapha Panich, THAI’s District Sales Manager for Upper-Southern Thailand, explained that THAI flights to and from Bangkok will run from both airports in the capital.“Passengers are welcome to choose which destination they want: Don…
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Police box torched
RASSADA: A “temporary” police box installed at the entrance to Pahin Namsai Village, located off Ruam Pattana Rd, has turned out to be very temporary indeed. It was burned to the ground by persons unknown at about 4:30 am on Monday – just one week after it was installed.Lt Col Adul Niraphai, Duty Inspector at Phuket City Police Station, told…
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Second incinerator “not likely’
PHUKET CITY: Phuket will likely have to wait for a new government before getting a second incinerator to deal with the island’s increasing volume of trash, Wisut Singkhachornworakul, Advisor to the Ministry of Interior, told a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall on Monday.During the meeting, held to discuss problems faced by the province, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwannasuppana said that…
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